WASHINGTON - When I ask a liberal American Jew involved in politics what he thinks of the claim that Rahm Emanuel is an anti-Israeli fifth column in the Obama administration, he laughs. "So, do they really think in Israel that Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, Dan Shapiro, Mara Rudman, Dennis Ross and the other good American Jews who work with Obama are a fifth column?" And then he says slowly, like someone explaining something to a person who has difficulty understanding: "How many times do you have to be told ... "

"... that you love us?" I try to complete the sentence.

"No. That your policy is screwed up." The most interesting stories about Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, are recounted with the recording device turned off. "He has a good memory, and I don't want a dead fish delivered to me," snickers one of interviewees. Emanuel once sent a dead fish to a pollster who predicted a significant gap to the detriment of the candidate for whom Emanuel was working then, at the beginning of his impressive career.

While associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are convinced that Emanuel is inciting the U.S. president against Israel behind the scenes - and providing the amateurish psychological explanation that he is "a Jew consumed by self-hatred" - people in Washington who disapprove of his conduct don't look for profound psychological motives. Indeed, some sum up their viewpoint simply by saying: "He's a jerk."

With his coarse short-temperedness, Emanuel stands out even in a city like Washington, D.C, about which Obama himself once said, quoting president Harry S. Truman: "They say if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog."

From the article: “...The enrichment menu included ballet lessons and visits to shows and museums. They also attended demonstrations with their mother, an activist for Afro-American civil rights, who was also arrested several times. Although Rahm did not pursue a career as a professional dancer, he inspired a spate of articles that presented him as proof of the fact that it’s possible to be both macho and a ballet dancer.”

But look at it from Bibi's perspective. Bibi and his brother Yoni fought for the state of Israel, for the Jewish people, Yoni was killed saving Jews. Their blood is in the soil. For Rahm to advocate kicking Jews out of Judea/Samaria and making them more vulnerable to arab missiles is to throw your own family to the wolves. To Bibi, that's hating your own people, your self.

If Rahm is your broker, you would be better with one of the Madhoff clan.

If Rahm is your broker, you better look for dead fish in your annual statement

If Rahm is your broker, you would discover he has been short selling into a rising market. Or at least, only siding with your enemies and telling you it will improve your position in the "real negotiations"

I don’t think one can make a real distinction between hating Israel and hating Jews. Israel is, in today’s world, essential to the survival of the Jewish peope, so to wish for the state to be destroyed is to seek the destruction of all Jews.

28
posted on 07/31/2009 1:50:19 PM PDT
by Tax-chick
("If the worst that Barack Obama does is ruin the economy, I will breathe a sigh of relief." Sowell)

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